Telepresence Robotics in an Academic Library
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ScholarWorks at WMU Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU University Libraries Faculty & Staff ubP lications University Libraries Fall 2017 Telepresence robotics in an academic library: A study of exposure and adaptation among patrons and employees LuMarie Guth Western Michigan University, [email protected] Patricia F. Vander Meer Western Michigan University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/library_pubs Part of the Library and Information Science Commons WMU ScholarWorks Citation Guth, LuMarie and Vander Meer, Patricia F., "Telepresence robotics in an academic library: A study of exposure and adaptation among patrons and employees" (2017). University Libraries Faculty & Staff Publications. 38. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/library_pubs/38 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University Libraries at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in University Libraries Faculty & Staff ubP lications by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INTRODUCTION A librarian in Bologna, Italy, is invited by a colleague in Michigan to tour her library. She is not planning any immediate travel. She plans instead to visit while sitting at her desk in her office. She downloads software on her computer and awakens a telepresence robot (TR) in Kalamazoo, MI, which becomes her eyes, ears, and legs, allowing her to drive around the library taking in the sights and services and conversing with her colleague, library staff, and patrons she encounters along the way. Telepresence robot technology offers people the opportunity to visit someone across a building or across the world without having to leave their chair. Because of this flexibility the technology is being used in a steadily growing number of applications in a variety of settings (Lehrbaum, 2013). A scan of the literature yields hundreds of results that address TR applications in many settings, with increasing citations since 2008. These settings include, among others, medicine where an RP-7 (InTouch Technologies Inc.) TR was used by an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse to provide wellness visits at a clinic 250 miles away and business where TR is one possible solution to providing work accommodations to employees with ambulatory problems or other disabilities confining them to their homes (Vermeersch, Sampsel, & Kleman, 2015) (Parini, 2016). This technology has also started to infiltrate public consciousness, appearing, for example, with episodes centered around the telepresence robotics on the popular television shows Modern Family (Ko, 2015) and Bob’s Burgers (Thompson, 2017). TRs start with basic mass market models, such as those sold by Double Robotics (http://www.doublerobotics.com/) and Suitable Technologies (https://suitabletech.com/) accessible at $2000-3500. Librarians are working with TRs to explore their uses in public services, particularly as an unfamiliar communication method inhabiting a space between video chat and face-to-face interactions. From an academic perspective it is advantageous for students to become familiar with TRs as they can encounter them in their careers as the technology becomes more widely adopted. The academic library is a logical place for this technology to be showcased on campus as it is a high-traffic setting utilized by students of every level and major. This paper discusses patron reactions to the telepresence robot exhibition in the library, beta testing of TRs in various public services tasks, and library employee attitudes toward this unfamiliar technology before and after one-on-one training. PROJECT BACKGROUND The University Libraries serves Western Michigan University (WMU), which is a Carnegie Higher Research Activity Doctoral University with a Fall 2016 enrollment of 23,252 including 4,939 graduate students. The main library is used by students in most of the disciplines that are taught at the University and is a high traffic campus location. In Fall 2015 the Western Michigan University Communications and Social Robotics Lab (CSRL) (http://www.combotlab.org/) approached the University Libraries in hopes of forming a collaboration. The CSRL was developed in Fall 2015 in collaboration with Dr. Autumn Edwards and Dr. Chad Edwards in the WMU School of Communication, and Dr. Patric Spence at the University of Kentucky, to analyze human and robot interaction. The CSRL directors were seeking campus partners who could help them more broadly exhibit TR technology on campus and also expand their data collection on the dynamics of human/robot communication with a larger population. Figure 1. The Beam telepresence robot with charging station and software connection via laptop. The CSRL robot to be showcased was a Suitable Technologies Beam+ model. This configuration seen in Figure 1 consisted of the robot unit, its docking power station, and operating software that could be easily downloaded onto most devices from the Suitable Technologies website. The software allowed users to navigate the robot with a mouse, touchpad or keyboard, project the webcam view of the pilot and alternatively push a screenshare onto the unit, and control its speed and volume. The software also included a window that displays the view of the user interacting with the robot. The unit was capable of traveling over a variety of indoor surfaces and had an off-dock charge life of two hours. A project was developed consisting of three phases and primarily involved CSRL Directors Dr. Autumn Edwards and Dr. Chad Edwards, Associate Dean of Libraries Information Technology May Chang and authors Professor Patricia Vander Meer, library liaison to the School of Communication and Assistant Professor LuMarie Guth, library liaison to the College of Business. In the first phase patrons were invited to learn how to drive the CSRL’s Beam+ TR in the library and feedback was collected from participants via brief surveys. In the second phase the robot was employed in public services for trial use and data was collected via observations by the authors. In the third phase the authors surveyed library employee attitudes toward the technology before and after personal training with the robot. During the first two phases of the project the authors, who were among the first library employees to navigate the robot, observed that its use yielded mixed reactions among other librarians and staff. Some employees exhibited interest toward it while others were hesitant or had skeptical reactions to the new technology. The Diffusion of Innovations theory posits that innovations are often perceived cautiously early in their life cycle and it’s not until after early adopters prove its utility that the technology is more widely accepted (Rogers, 2003). Would this theory extend to the perceptions of telepresence robotics by University Libraries employees, who work in a field that has frequently adopted emerging technology? In order to explore library employees’ perspectives more thoroughly, the researchers conducted a training study as the third phase of the project. Employees’ comfort levels and perceptions were tested before and after training in using the robot. Although other libraries in recent years have surveyed users regarding TR technology, those studies did not survey employees (Hartsell-Gundy, 2015). The WMU University Libraries study includes hands-on training and captures quantitative and qualitative data from an employee population regarding perception. LITERATURE REVIEW A number of colleges and universities have begun to experiment with TRs and acquaint students and faculty with this growing technology. Varied uses include the University of Central Florida’s use of TRs to enhance campus life, service learning and allowing sick professors to work from home (7 Things You, 2013). Another example is Michigan State University’s application of this technology to allow distance students to better participate in face to face discussions (Meyer, 2015). As higher education is opening up more and more opportunities for students to experience new technologies, academic libraries are continuing a tradition of incorporating innovation into spaces and services. For example, a keyword search in Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA) reveals that the makerspace movement emerged in the library literature in 2012 and fablabs in 2014. One of the advantages of the academic library as a place for promoting emerging technology is a that the library offers a central, neutral, and safe setting, which serves all disciplines on campus. Academic libraries typically have existing space to work with, generous hours, and a track record of collaboration with other units on campus (Little, 2014). They also have an early history of forming partnerships and working with other units to develop innovations. For example, university libraries and campus computing centers have been working together for decades and collaboration continues to be a central strategy (Dougherty 1987). Recent emphasis on collaboration is reflected in the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL)’s “Top Trends in Academic Libraries” that stated that the theme of “deeper collaboration” most characterized the uppermost trends in academic libraries today (Research Planning and Review Committee, 2014). Some early cases of academic libraries adopting TRs, in particular, are present